Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Archives

TBI investigating inmate death at county jail

Posted at 9:00 pm July 18, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

April Michelle Beach

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an inmate at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on July 4.

April Michelle Beach, 36, of Rocky Top was picked up July 2 by an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy for a probation violation and a violation of her pre-trial release and booked into the jail.

On the morning of July 4, according to a source close to the investigation, she became ill and was transported by paramedics to the emergency room, where she was pronounced dead. [Read more…]

Investigation: Clinton man accused of threatening three judges

Posted at 5:52 pm July 18, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

CLINTON—A Clinton man accused of threatening to harm three Anderson County judges has a trial scheduled this week in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Details about the alleged threat aren’t available in an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in October.

The 53-year-old man has had a dispute with Anderson County officials about searches of people at the security checkpoint near the elevators on the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. He has told deputies that they do not have the right to search him, objected to the metal detectors there, claimed that civil rights are being violated, and asserted the right to defend himself with deadly force against an unlawful act by a police officer, according to court records.

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Two Maryville men accused of pretending to be licensed contractors

Posted at 11:00 am July 11, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Jonathan Presley

Two Maryville men have been indicted after being accused of pretending to be licensed contractors in Anderson County, authorities said.

Before the indictments announced Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had investigated a complaint of contractor fraud involving EPM Handyman Services. The business is owned by Jonathan Presley, 37, and Warren Presley, 45, both of Maryville. The investigation, which started in August 2017, was requested by Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark.

“During the course of the investigation, agents learned the men were paid to build a garage at a location in Anderson County in April 2017 but never completed the job,” the TBI said in a press release Tuesday. “The investigation further revealed that the men were not licensed contractors authorized to conduct this type of business.” [Read more…]

Exclusive: Cromwell, co-defendants sentenced to 20-50 years for fraudulent liens

Posted at 2:38 pm June 30, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in criminal court in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a criminal court hearing in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

NASHVILLE—Five East Tennessee men who have been identified as “sovereign citizens,” including one from Oak Ridge and another from Clinton, were sentenced to 20-50 years in prison on Wednesday after filing fraudulent liens worth hundreds of millions of dollars against public officials, law enforcement officers, and others.

The five defendants—who included Austin Gary Cooper, 69, of Clinton, and Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, of Oak Ridge—had earlier been convicted of more than 200 counts of forgery and filing unlawful liens. That was at the end of a six-day trial in Davidson County Criminal Court in Nashville in late April.

Their sentencing hearing was Wednesday. It lasted more than three hours.

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DA: Cromwell, other ‘sovereign citizens’ convicted in fraudulent liens case

Posted at 4:26 pm May 3, 2018
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks two years ago, was sentenced to 12 years in prison during a hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today

Lee Harold Cromwell, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015, was sentenced to 12 years in prison during a hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 19, 2017. In a separate case, Cromwell was convicted this week in Nashville along with four other defendants in a fraudulent liens case, and he will be sentenced June 27. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. May 4.

Five “sovereign citizens,” including Lee Cromwell of Oak Ridge, were convicted of more than 200 counts in Nashville this week in a case where the defendants had been accused of filing fraudulent liens against local and state officials in East Tennessee, including judges, prosecutors, and police officers in Anderson County, an official said Thursday.

Before the convictions, seven sovereign citizens from Anderson County had been charged in February 2017 with forgery and filing liens without a legal basis, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release Thursday. Those charges came after an investigation that had been requested by Clark and was conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Many of the cases were tried in Nashville, and a jury returned a verdict this week of guilty on all counts, Clark said. Clark and his wife were both victims of the fraudulent liens, so Clark had requested another district attorney general to prosecute the case.

“As the liens were filed electronically at the Secretary of State’s Office in Nashville, it made sense to have the defendants indicted and prosecuted in Davidson County,” Clark said. [Read more…]

DA: Deadly force authorized, no criminal charges in fatal officer-involved shooting

Posted at 4:32 pm April 23, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Roger Raymond York Jr.

A Clinton Police Department officer was authorized to use deadly force against an armed, wanted man who did not comply with officers and fired a shot from a semi-automatic pistol during a struggle with police on November 8, and there will be no criminal charges filed against the three officers involved in the fatal shooting, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said Monday.

Clark worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the officer-involved shooting of Roger Raymond York Jr., 32, who had a Clinton address, according to Anderson County jail records.

York died after he fired a weapon at Clinton Police Department officers on East Drive in Clinton on Wednesday night, November 8, according to earlier information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. One of the officers fired back, hitting York, who died, according to that information. [Read more…]

Jail death probed by TBI

Posted at 12:40 pm April 10, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of an inmate at the Anderson County Detention Facility that occurred in March.

Preliminary investigations have not turned up anything suspicious, according to the TBI, but their investigation is ongoing.

Patricia Jones, 53, of Oliver Springs was booked into the jail on March 17 on charges of forgery and theft filed by the Oliver Springs Police Department. Jones was found dead inside her cell the following day, March 18, by a jailer who checked on her after noticing that she had stopped snoring, and found her unresponsive. [Read more…]

Former probation officer indicted in TBI rape investigation

Posted at 3:51 pm April 9, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Bryant Thomas

An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has led to the indictment of a former probation officer on a rape charge, authorities said Monday.

TBI special agents began investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Bryant L. Thomas, 30, in February 2017 at the request of Seventh District Attorney General Dave Clark in Anderson County, a press release said.

At that time, Thomas was employed as a probation parole officer with the Tennessee Department of Correction, the press release said. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department investigating homicide

Posted at 10:45 am November 27, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a shooting northeast of Oliver Springs on Sunday afternoon.

The shooting was reported before 5 p.m. Sunday on Back Half Moon Road in the Frost Bottom community, a press release said. When they arrived, deputies found that Buford Glenn Phillips, 62, had been shot and killed.

Sheriff’s investigators along with agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were called to the scene and are currently investigating the circumstances of the shooting, the press release said.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, no additional information can be released at this time,” the release said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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TBI identifies man who died in officer-involved shooting in Clinton on Wednesday

Posted at 1:15 pm November 9, 2017
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Roger Raymond York Jr.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has identified the man who died in an officer-involved shooting in Clinton on Wednesday as Roger Raymond York Jr.

York, 32, is listed as having a Clinton address in Anderson County jail records.

He died after he fired a weapon at Clinton Police Department officers on East Drive in Clinton on Wednesday night, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. One of the officers fired back, hitting York, who died, according to preliminary information from the TBI.

The three Clinton Police Department officers were not injured, the TBI said. The three officers were at the home in the 1000 block of East Drive after receiving information that a man with outstanding warrants was at the residence, the TBI said. [Read more…]

Preliminary information: Man dies after firing at officers & officer returns fire

Posted at 2:29 am November 9, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation responded to a shooting involving an officer on East Drive in Clinton, the TBI said late Wednesday night, Nov. 8, 2017.

A man fired a weapon at officers on East Drive in Clinton on Wednesday night, and one of the officers fired back, hitting the man, who died, according to preliminary information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The three Clinton Police Department officers were not injured, the TBI said. The three officers were at the home in the 1000 block of East Drive after receiving information that a male subject with outstanding warrants was at the residence, the TBI said.

“Upon arrival, officers confirmed the individual was at the home and attempted to take him into custody,” the TBI said. “The subject attempted to evade officers by climbing out a window. At some point during the encounter, the subject fired a weapon at officers, which resulted in one of the officers returning fire, striking the subject. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The officers were not injured.” [Read more…]

TBI investigating officer-involved shooting in Clinton

Posted at 1:29 am November 9, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation responded to a shooting involving an officer on East Drive in Clinton, the TBI said late Wednesday night, Nov. 8, 2017.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation responded to a shooting involving an officer on East Drive in Clinton, the TBI said late Wednesday night.

The TBI said agents had responded to the shooting before midnight Wednesday.

TBI spokesperson Leslie Earhart said a statement would be posted later this morning on Twitter and tbinewsroom.com.

East Drive is near the intersection of State Route 61 (North Charles J. Seivers Boulevard) and J.D. Yarnell Industrial Parkway in Clinton. [Read more…]